It's been two weeks since I arrived, and I still haven't been claimed. I'm getting used to it. Living in the Hermes cabin isn't so bad. It does seem odd, though, that I have both parents and a sister. I don't know what's going on there.
And then there's the slight problem about people in your cabin being your siblings. I couldn't stand it if Connor was my brother.
I feel like he gets hotter every time I see him, which never fails to infuriate me. Why can't I just get claimed by someone other than Hermes already? Maybe Demeter, or Poseidon, or Athena. Well, none of those are really realistic. I'm not good enough with plants to be Demeter, or good enough with water to be Poseidon, or organized enough to be Athena. Probably more likely to be Apollo or something.
Not Hermes, though. Please not Hermes.
We're all sitting around the campfire (like every night), and the Aphrodite kids are chatting with Emma so I'm by myself. The Aphrodite kids seem to have adopted her. Piper, their cabin leader, really likes her, and she's accepted fully by all of them but Drew. And it's Drew who draws my attention. Most of the Aphrodite kids are chatting, but Drew has pulled Emma away from the group, and she seems to be yelling at her. I frown, and creep closer.
"Quit hanging around with us. You don't belong. You're just another unclaimed kid. Shoo. If you do get claimed by Aphrodite, which seems extremely unlikely, with, you know, that 'fashion sense' of yours, you can come right on over. But otherwise, scoot. Go sit with that weird new girl you've been hanging around with. I'm sure she'll accept you."
Emma's turning red, and I can't tell whether she's angry or embarrassed. Probably both.
I don't expect what she says next at all, though.
"That weird new kid? She almost beat Percy sword fighting. She could kick your butt from here to next month if she wanted to. You're just jealous because Connor likes her." She looks murderous. I feel a sudden surge of gratefulness. But Drew seems determined to win the little argument.
"See? You're attached to her. Almost like you're friends. You're pathetic. She's not an Aphrodite, that's for sure. Stay away from her if you ever want even a little social status. And as for you? You're just a little wannabe. Go. I'm sure some little ugly Hephaestus misfit will want you."
She did not just say that. She didn't. There's no way she said that. She didn't. There's no way.
She didn't just go there.
I can't hold my anger back anymore. She insulted me, sure. That's all good and fine. But Emma? She's going down.
"Hey, Drew!"
I hop down in front of her, and she looks mildly surprised, but then she's just amused. "Ah, Emma's little sidekick. I'm glad that you could join us for this little chat." She pats the seat next to her like I'm six.
I'm not going to bother with subtle insults right now. Drew is going to get it.
"You act like you're so much better than Emma, but really, you're just jealous of her. She's got friends. Do you know why you don't? Because you're the epitome of what Aphrodite kids AREN'T supposed to be. And that's just sad. Because you could be a nice person, Drew. You really could. But since you don't want to, you aren't. Do you know how ridiculous that is? No. Maybe you don't. I'll bet you PRACTICED being stupid until you really were. There's always a line, Drew. And yours is long past."
She looks dangerously calm. I raise my eyebrows and turn to walk away when she swings her heavy purse at my back. I catch it in one hand and swivel around. "Only cowards attack when their enemies back is turned." I lean closer. "And I don't like cowards."
She pulls out her dagger to stab me, but somehow I swing her purse around so that her dagger goes through it instead of me. She howls in anger. "That was EXPENSIVE!" She moves to stab me again, but Percy tosses me my sword. Where did he even get it from? I left it... Oh. At the sword fighting arena.
I block her dagger, and then twist my sword so that she drops her dagger. I slide my blade into my belt loop and march back to my seat with the Hermes kids. They all have odd smiles on their faces.
I look down at my sword. "Well, I had to make a dramatic exit somehow ad I didn't have a sheath. It does look rather ridiculous, doesn't it?"
Travis smiles, a real smile, and for the first time I think that he isn't all that bad. "You might come from somewhere where it's fashion above function, my friend," he says teasingly, pointing at my belt loop, "but out here it's function above fashion. Well, for most of us." He looks pointedly at the Aphrodite campers. He directs his gaze at my belt loop again. "Somehow I get the feeling that you're going to saw straight through your jeans."
I glance down. He's right. "Oops."
The whole Hermes cabin laughs, and I laugh with them. And for the first time, I wonder if it would really be all that bad being one of them.
A Hermes girl stands up, looking at me oddly. Almost impressed.
"What you said to Drew back there, that was brave," she says. "Piper's the only one who's ever really stood up to her. Except for you. It's good that you're that kind of person. We -" she waves her hand at the other Hermes campers "- don't really do that. Stand up for each other, I mean. I don't know which cabin you belong in, but I hope you're happy there. You deserve it." She turns and points at a fourteen-ish boy. "Also, James stole your sleeping bag." He sits back down, and I don't know why to think, and not about the lack of sleeping bag. They're impressed that I stood up to Drew. The Hermes cabin. Impressed.
I decide to sit down.
Suddenly the entire crowd goes silent, and I know what's happened. Someone's been claimed. It's happened three times while I've been here already.
I glance around to see where everyone's looking, and it's toward I pink glow. An Aphrodite. The only unclaimed person who I can think of who might be Aphrodite is -
Emma.
She's sitting with all of her Aphrodite friends, glowing with more than just pink magic. She's glowing with pride. All of the Aphrodite kids look pleased. Well, all except for Drew. I smile. She's got a real family now.
I'm really alone now.
She stands up, and I guess that she's going to go move her stuff or something, but she walks toward me. Is there something behind me? But there isn't, and even if there was, that's not what she's aiming for. She wraps me up in a hug.
"I knew it." I say, laughing. She pulls back and giggles.
"I'm moving! I'll be with my real sisters and brothers now. I thought I would never get claimed!" She sounds so relieved, so like herself. But then she gets this look on her face, one that I've never seen. She pats me on the head like I'm more than a week or two younger than her. "You'll get claimed soon enough, honey." I stiffen.
"Been copying from Drew's notes, have you?" I say it so cruelly that I'm surprised with myself. I didn't mean to sound so mean. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so -"
But her face is already warping into a sneer. "No, of course you didn't. I thought I'd been nice to you this whole time, but no, you just don't want to be associated with an Aphrodite, do you?"
"What? Oh, this is ridiculous." I wave my hand in front of her face. "Where did Emma go? This is some Drew-droid. I don't know you." I turn to leave, but she grabs my wrist with surprising force. Before I can consider the consequences, I slap her.
She recoils in shock. I move to leave again, but a bigger hand grabs my wrist. I turn around, hissing. "What?" I'm spitting the words out.
It's Connor. I'm beyond caring. Even though he's got this totally sexy look of concern on his face. No. I don't care.
"Are you insane? The entire Aphrodite cabin is going to be out to kill you! They're deadlier than they look. Sit down before you make it worse!" He tugs my arm back, and I stumble back into the bench. I glare at him and yank my arm free, stomping out.
I don't turn down to the Hermes cabin. I can't handle that right now. I slip into the woods.
I feel like I'm being followed, but I ignore it. I probably am, considering he stories I've heard about the woods. I'm too done with the world right now to care.
There's a boulder rising in front of me, and I climb it, not using my legs at all. The burn in my arms feels good.
I reach the top and fall back, lying down and watching the sky. How dare the sky look so peaceful when my entire world is tilted at a weird angle.
The wind through the trees is a lullaby, in one ear out the other, and I know I'm not going to remember this when I wake up.
Before I know it, I'm asleep.

CONNOR

She's pissed, and I can't blame her. Emma's syrupy Drew imitation would have pissed off anybody. Normally I would let them hash it out, but I'm worried that Alyssa's going to flip out and do something stupid.
"Been copying from Drew's notes, have you?" She sounds so venomous that she surprises herself. Her words stumble over each other as she tries to backtrack, but it's too late. Emma's shouting, offended, trying to get under Alyssa's skin. She doesn't.
"Oh, this is ridiculous. Where did Emma go? This is some Drew-droid. I don't know you." Alyssa turns to leave, and I move so that I can follow her, but Emma grabs her wrist.
Emma's nails are painted pink.
Alyssa's face contorts. Maybe Emma got to her more than I thought. Her hand flies from nowhere, slamming into Emma's face. Emma rocks back in shock.
Alyssa turns to leave, but I can't let her. She'll get into trouble. She's only been here for so long.
I grab her wrist. It's tiny, but not at all delicate.
"What?" There's so much anger and hate and hurt packed into that little innocent word that I think I'll never hear it the same. I don't want to admit it to myself, but that stung. A lot.
"Are you insane? The entire Aphrodite cabin is going to be out to kill you! They're deadlier than they look. Sit down before you make it worse!" I try to tug her down, but she's only sitting for a second before she pulls free and disappears.
Shit.
"Oh, shit. She's going to get herself killed. I should have stopped her. I'm such an idiot. Shit."
Travis looks at me like he's never seen me before. "You really like her, don't you?"
I don't have time to be insulted or to try to deny it. I fly out of the circle of campers, just seeing the edge of an orange tee shirt disappearing into the woods. Shit. Of course she had to go into the woods.
I'm sprinting faster than I think I ever have, flying through the woods after the flash of orange. We're nearing the boulder that we use for base during capture the flag. Maybe I can climb it to see where she is. Somehow I force my body to move faster.
I climb the rock easily, knowing where all the handholds are already. I'm about to stand when -
Shit.
She's lying on her back, and her eyes shut. She's asleep. At least she won't freak out and think I'm some monster or something if she's asleep.
She's really cute when she's sleeping.
I want to slap myself. No. I need to get her somewhere safer. Not the woods.
I move to lift her, but she twitches and almost wakes up when I get close. Battle reflex. I almost forgot that she's a demigod too, wired to fight. She should be fine. Why am I so worried?
I sit at the edge of the boulder, my legs hanging over the side. What do I do from here?
I'm drifting off. Shit. I need to get back -
And I'm asleep.

TRAVIS

I've never seen Connor like this. Ever.
I mean, sure, he's liked girls or whatever, but really? He'd never do that for one of them. But this Alyssa, she's different.
I'm not really a big fan of her, after the slap (which actually hurt, A LOT). She's cute enough, I guess, but not really the kind of girl that I'd go for. I just wish that Connor hadn't run after her so that I could mess with him. That's always fun, since I so rarely have leverage.
Well, time to head in.
"HEY! Everybody move it! We're heading in! Scoot! Move! All of you! I see you in that corner, James! Faster! I feel like I'm a shepherd and my herd is a pack of slugs! Move! COME ON PEOPLE THE DOOR IS THAT WAY!" Normally I have fun yelling at everyone, but I'm too worried about Connor to do so tonight.
When everyone's in, I close the door, with me inside. I hop over to my bunk before I can change my mind. Everyone fills in the path I took, and there's no way back out now. Phew. No chasing Connor around tonight.
I stay up, watching them drop off to sleep. Finally it's only the three by the door, showing off something or other that they stole. I hope for their sake that it's not anything of Alyssa's. James is going to get his butt kicked when she gets back. And she will get back. It's Connor I'm worried about.
"Lights out," I call quietly, and the closest person to the switch flicks it off.
I guess I'll just have to hope.